If you can't beat'em, should you join'em?

As most of Latin America celebrates Carnaval, 3-5 days of partying, dancing, and drinking and gorging, I'm tempted to stock up on groceries and DVDs, shut myself in the house and avoid the onslaught of water balloons, sprays of sticky, colored foam and jets of multi-colored ink that will leave my blonde hair permanently streaked with pink and purple (like last year).

As foreigners in Latin America we sometimes question how, in a region that is so poverty-stricken, entire countries can shut down at the expense of all income generating activities and furthermore, spend millions on gorgeous parade floats, impossibly intricate costumes, food and drink, and party for apparently no reason other than to dance and get drunk in the streets. “I just don’t get it,” I heard an expat say one day, “I mean, it’d be different if it was something they could actually afford to do.”

But does life always come down to finances? Not in South America. The poorest of the poor save up all year for this one week, which by the way, is not just an excuse to party. To many, beyond the partying, it’s a religious conviction. Carnaval is actually timed to end precisely on Fat Tuesday (or Martes Gordo) (Mardi Gras) which is the Tuesday prior to Ash Wednesday (the day that marks the beginning of Lent on the Christian calendar). That’s the 40-day period prior to Easter during which many abstain from all types of excess. Read the history of Carnaval here and you may be surprised to find that it actually began over 1000 years ago on a completely different continent.

There is one very wise and respected gringo who, despite his austere religious background, would probably "get" Carnaval. Abraham Lincoln said: "In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." That’s the basic precept behind this ginormous party. It all began a thousand years ago and is celebrated all over the world in different ways, and in reverence to various differing deities, etc. However, even a gringo can understand the idea of living life to the fullest. Some of us may not want to admit it, but isn’t living a better, fuller life what often motivates us to seek out a new life overseas?

So if you're tempted to lock yourself indoors during this festival of sloth and binging, take another look and venture out, even if it's just for a few minutes just to take some pictures. Many people look forward to Carnaval all year as a time to put aside the three P's with which they have to live throughout the remainder of the year: politics, poverty, and problems. Therefore, this festival, if anything, will only get bigger, brighter, gaudier, roudier, messier, and louder in time. So if you can’t beat’em should you join’em? Haha. Maybe!

February things you should know about

National Geographic has extended their 75% off sale (which was to have ended 31 January) while supplies last. Shop their newly re-launched online store to see thousands of products or shop for South American Gifts online right here.

LAN Airlines has some really good February deals on flights to South America right now:

Grow Our Guides! Our new expat guide sections are up and running now. As a forum-based community we set up pages like these and as you to contribute your first hand insights and information. Expats don’t have time to spend hours and hours online trying to piece the picture together – we depend on and trust information provided by our expat peers over simple lists or advertisements. So if you’ve already lived in South America, add your opinions, ratings, recommendations (or warnings) to any of the following:

The Expat Kitchen: this fun new section is where you rant about your favorite recipes, share about new cultural foods you’ve tried, tell us how you make do when you can’t find the ingredients for your recipes locally, and anything else! Go see what’s cooking in the expat kitchen now and help us develop this “just for fun” section of the site by sharing!

Gift Shop Makeover! Our Andean Gift Shop was extremely popular throughout December. All products featured are provided by National Geographic and Novica two of the best online stores for cultural gifts anywhere! Your purchases help National Geographic continue its education and exploration mission and help keep GoSouthExpat.com online too! In 2010 look for tons of new products, all of which will be organized into fresh new easy-to-browse sections.

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